Beyazit Square

Beyazit Square is a broad, open plaza defined by the presence of numerous pigeons and a constant stream of students moving toward the monumental, Neo-Renaissance gate of Istanbul University. Officially named Freedom Square, the site is known locally for the early sixteenth-century Bayezid the Second Mosque that anchors one side of the space. This ground holds deep layers of the city's past; it sits directly over the location of the fourth-century Forum of Theodosius, a civic center commissioned by the Emperor Constantine the Great.